1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an FA (Factory Automation) information managing method in which a plurality of processes for manufacturing a product is summed, in which raw data in the respective processes is collected, in which predetermined information processing which is predictable in advance, such as statistics, comparison, evaluation, and the like, is carried out, and in which the respective processes are managed on the basis of the information processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A distributed FA information management system in the manufacturing industry is based on a client/server model. In such FA information management system, in order to access to the information owned by the system, it is necessary to access to a server (storage device) which stores the information.
The information stored in the server is subjected to predetermined information processing which is predictable in advance, such as statistics, comparison, evaluation, and the like (e.g., actual production, actual operation, and the like). An operator can fetch necessary data from the data which has been subjected to predetermined information processing.
Such FA information management system is suitable for routine information processing (permanent routine information, such as an immediate report, a daily report, a monthly report, and the like) or data processing which is frequently reused.
However, the system is not suitable for data processing which is irregular and unpredictable in advance (e.g., collecting operation information or quality/QA information for recognizing the current state which is necessary for frequent amelioration and improvement in the manufacturing industry; or collecting evaluated data after manufacturing method or facility is improved). Further, from the aspect of cost, it is often difficult to mount data processing function which is used only for a short period and is less frequently reused (e.g., in a case in which an operator wants to know data only during the trial operation; or in a case in which he/she wants to investigate data immediately after the manufacturing process has been changed).
Namely, data which is necessary for improving the above-described production control is different in accordance with a process to be improved and ameliorated. In a case in which end data (e.g., dimension value and the like which is measured when raw materials are conveyed) which does not remain in the server as data is needed, a specific operator must be placed at the predetermined process for collecting the data. Moreover, it is unpredictable when and where trouble occurs. It is nearly impossible in reality to store the data as raw information (unprocessed information).
In this way, due to the variety of requests of data, the difficulty of prediction, the complication of structure of a database or a file, and the opacity of processing history, data which is less frequently reused cannot be managed by the server.